I’ve been re-evaluating and making new goals for myself lately. But this time, I feel like I’m doing a much better job of it. One of my goals is to own a home. But simply just writing down “Buy a Big House” as a goal isn’t very motivating. I have to remember why I want that house, really take the time to visualize it in my mind in detail, and then write that stuff down!

This time when I wrote out my goals, instead of just writing “Buy a Big House,” here what I did:

Wrote down the Goal:

BUY A BIG HOUSE

Then I wrote down all the things I wanted in the house:

*a huge backyard with big grassy area and a pool
*a big kitchen with an island in the middle and lots of counter space
*really tall ceilings, tall doorways, tall walkways, at least 10 feet tall
*at least a 2 car garage
*Big walk-in closet with some built in shelving
*3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms or more

Then I wrote down why I want all those things, what I’ll be able to do with those things, and the things I’ll enjoy about them:

-I’ll have a place to have friends and family over. I can have BBQ’s, pool parties, game nights, or whatever else I want!
-I’ll have a place to move freely in my backyard, swim, meditate, slackline, and play around with my dog Jack 🙂
-I can do more woodworking and craft projects in my garage!
-I’ll have a DISHWASHER!!!!!!!!!!! I haven’t had a dishwasher in at least 4 years now….. the thought of having a dishwasher alone makes me ecstatic
-Jack will have a place to run around and play whenever he wants, I don’t have to go somewhere to get his energy out.
-I’ll have way more space when I cook. I can have friends and family over for dinners and potlucks 🙂
-I’ll have a room to put my office in!
-and lots more!

I wrote down a lot more about the house and some other goals on my whiteboards at home. But even as I was re-writing down all this, I was literally getting excited again. So it’s not the goal that motivates us, it’s the REASONS WHY we want to achieve those goals!!! That’s what we need to be writing down and reminding ourselves of on a daily basis. Reading your goals everyday is definitely better than nothing, but reading the reasons WHY you want to achieve those goals carries much more weight because it can trigger an emotional response!

Emotion and memory are tied together very closely. You’re more likely to remember and think about something that makes you emotional than something that doesn’t. Try starting out with just one goal, don’t overwhelm yourself with doing this for 8 or 10 goals in one day. This shouldn’t be something where you’re working hard or trying to rush through it. It probably took me at least a half an hour to completely write out everything about my future house. Take your time, write out all the details of what you want, enjoy envisioning your achievement of those goals and what that achievement will do for your life and your loved ones. Tie EMOTION and your GOALS together!!!

*Yoga class is going down with Emily tomorrow from 9:30am to 10:30am! Come get your yogi on and come flow with us tomorrow morning*

What is it that you’ve been wanting to do for awhile now? Something you’ve been putting off and will get you out of your comfort zone? For years now, I’ve thought about taking a trip somewhere alone, but I’ve never done it.

I just got home a couple hours ago (which will be a week prior to when you receive this email) from Puerto Morelos, Mexico, which is right in between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. I was there for a total of 6 days and 5 nights. And I gotta say, the first couple nights there I did not like it. I didn’t go there to party or anything like that. This entire trip was about getting outside of my comfort zone, which going to a foreign country alone definitely did. My normal daily routine wasn’t anywhere near possible, my dog Jack was back home in Dallas, my phone only worked in my room so I didn’t have a lot of communication with anybody nor any access to social media or netflix, I even had to eat differently because there was no grocery store in Puerto Morelos, only an Oxxo (like a 7/11-kinda) and restaurants.

I was forced to go out into the unknown, meet new people, work on my spanish, try new things, it almost felt like being a different person. But after I got past those first couple days, I had some of the best adventures and biggest laughs that I’ll never forget. I spent virtually all day every day there outside; doing things like swimming in cenotes or in the ocean, snorkeling, exploring, talking to people, trying new foods, seeing new places, and having an amazing time. I discovered new things about myself, learned that some of the old things in my head that had been holding me back were just things I was making up in my mind, and in general, I feel like I have grown as a person. I never thought I’d be able to do something like this, but it turns out, I’m capable of a lot more than I thought I was. And I’d be willing to bet, if you go out and do that thing you’ve been wanting to do, you’ll find out that you’re an even stronger person than you ever would’ve thought.

Did you know that walking barefoot in the grass releases endorphins??? It’s interesting to think about how much the way we treat our feet has changed over the course of history; from barefoot ancestors for ten’s, if not, hundreds of thousands of years, to minimal sandals, to minimal shoes, to hard soled shoes with extra cushion and support. Yet with all this support, we don’t do something as simple as touch the Earth on a daily basis. It’s more likely to talk to find someone who has not touched the Earth in decades than it is to find someone who walks barefoot daily.

This has devastating effects on us both physically and mentally!!! By walking in these foot-coffins, *cough* I mean shoes, we are weakening the foundation we use to walk everyday (our feet), we are seperating ourselves from the Earth and our connection to it, and we are depriving ourselves of EASILY obtainable endorphins!!! Get outside, walk barefoot, and breathe deeply, I guarantee at minimum your mood will improve.